Practically every Nigerian that has access to an electricity connection is now aware of that phenomenon in electricity operations known as a “systems collapse”. So, it wasn’t really surprising for the country to wake up, on Wednesday, 17th August 2022, to news that the lights had gone out due to yet another system collapse, the 10th or 11th of 2022.
Indifference changed to consternation, amazement and anger, however, as news of the reason for this system collapse went mainstream. First, we saw a video clip of some people gleefully shutting down a substation of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) in Abuja. It turns out that others across the country were similarly shut down and that these TCN substations were taken over forcefully by trade unionists of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) on the orders of the Union’s General Secretary, Joe Ajaero.
Indeed, these Ministers only gave the impression that government policy-making is arbitrary and can be hijacked by special interests at any time
The stated reasons for this action are difficult to fathom. The NUEE General Secretary seems to have been upset that TCN workers were asked to take promotion examinations; that some retired TCN staff were prevented from working in other areas of the power sector; and the Market Operator refused to fund payments due to ex-PHCN staff. These are totally misguided expectations but assuming they are well-founded, no reasonable person would concede that they justify the abrupt shutting down of the entire national grid of a country of 200m-plus people.
Until this moment, neither the NUEE nor its General Secretary, Joe Ajaero, have apologised to the nation for the irreparable loss they inflicted on the country. However, rather than re-litigate the total lack of justification for what was clearly an act of sabotage against the entire country, we would note that till date nothing has been done to call the NUEE or its General Secretary to order.
Rather, the Federal Government of Nigeria, represented by the two Ministers in the Ministry of Power and the Minister of Labour, seems to be in a hurry to placate the NUEE and take on responsibilities that are ordinarily not directly theirs.
The complaints by the NUEE obviously concern only TCN’s industrial relations. If TCN workers do not want to take promotion examinations; if certain persons seek redress for being prevented from working in certain parts of TCN; and if ex-PHCN staff claim they are owed by the Market Operator (who currently operates under the TCN umbrella), these are all matters that statutorily fall within the jurisdiction of the National Industrial Court (NIC).
They are purely contractual between the specific individuals concerned and TCN and have absolutely nothing to do with the NUEE. We in BusinessDay do not see how the NUEE came to take the place of these staff, how much less have a justification for causing the entire country such irreparable harm and loss on these grounds.
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We are even more at a loss to understand the justification for the Ministries of Power and Labour to constitute a “negotiation team” headed by the Minister of State for Power to negotiate with the NUEE; when TCN is a limited liability company with a duly constituted board of directors that, under the Companies and Allied Matters Act, is the body legally qualified to take policy decisions for TCN.
All the facts of the matter are within the purview of TCN, its management and its directors. What then is the basis for Ministers to constitute themselves as the board of TCN and supplant the company’s duly-appointed directors?
We are even more appalled that Ministers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria are so eager to placate the NUEE and its all-powerful Secretary-General that they would compound the NUEE’s illegality with their own illegality all in a bid to make it look like they are averting a problem for the country, when they are actually compounding our challenges.
Indeed, these Ministers only gave the impression that government policy-making is arbitrary and can be hijacked by special interests at any time. The NUEE should have been told to have their affected members either negotiate their claims with TCN directors and management or go to arbitration or court litigation with the company. The NUEE resorting to violence, both against TCN workers at their duty posts in various transmission sub-stations and against the national grid leading to its collapse, is an act of nothing but brigandage and blackmail.
Rather than constitute a negotiation team headed by no less than a Minister, the Federal Government and its national security and law enforcement agencies should be inquiring into the extent of damage caused by the events of 17th August and possible criminal liability of all involved in the attack against the national grid by the NUEE on that day.
We are equally concerned that the NUEE General Secretary, Joe Ajaero, defiantly gave a 2-week ultimatum, expiring on Thursday, 1st September, for their demands to be met. So, if these demands are not met to Ajaero’s satisfaction, will we suffer another round of sabotage and system collapse?
That the NUEE could attack the country as it did on 17th August, and no has been held accountable is bad enough. Repeating it would be the height of impunity and totally unacceptable in a country whose government was elected on the platform of making the country safer and more secure.
Joe Ajaero and his NUEE have become the tail wagging the Nigerian dog and if the Federal Government is not to be faced with accusations of condoning this blackmail, decisive action must be taken to ensure that the attack on the national grid on 17th August never again repeats itself.
